


Thank you...Next

by chaoticlogic



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 06:49:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18089498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticlogic/pseuds/chaoticlogic
Summary: When your world gets turned upside down, a knife wielding hero is there for you.Diego x ReaderWarnings: Slight violence and language.





	Thank you...Next

The first time that Diego Hargreeves ever sees you is when you walk into the police station. He has seen a lot of angry people in life, but you looked like fury embodied. The black dress you are wearing hugs you in all the right places and your makeup is still flawless despite your windblown hair. Walking up to the counter your voice holds the calm in the storm between every syllable you spoke, because your eyes were a hurricane of emotion.

“I need a police escort to my apartment please.”

The man behind the desk blinks up at you in confusion, “Why is that ma’am?”

“Because my now ex-boyfriend forced me out of his car onto the side of the road in a fit of rage. A fit of rage that I do not even begin to understand, mostly because we had a great time tonight until he lost it in the car over nothing. Therefore, I would like a police escort to get my things because I don’t trust a man that would throw this girlfriend out on the side of the road in the middle of the night for no reason,” you state your words clipped and matter of fact while your tone holds your rage in check.

Diego can’t help but be impressed along with intrigued.

“I’ll escort you ma’am. My name is Detective Patch, you are?”

 

After you introduce yourself to the Detective, the two of leave the station and head out to her car. Once you get to your apartment complex you see your car in its usual space with the windows busted out and the tires slashed.

You turn towards the Detective, “I’m going to need make a police report about my car,” you say with exasperation. You are mentally preparing yourself for the fight in your apartment.

“Has he ever hit you?”

“No… but there is a first time for everything and I have work in the morning,” you say with steel in your voice.

She just nods her head and follows you up the stairs of your complex. You open the door to the biggest mess you have ever seen in your life. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time you’ve seen this amount of damage. After his refusal to get help for his anger issues and outbursts, you were done trying to make things work. This man would not put you through hell any longer.

“What took you so long? Have to blow someone for a ride?”

“I’d watch my mouth if I were you,” Detective Patch says angily, obviously startling the man in the other room.

He comes around the corner and in an attempt to be menacing and gets in the Detective’s face.

“Who the fuck are you?” he spits out before you take his arm and pull him away from the Detective.

“Knock it off, I’m just here to get my things.”

“Like hell you are! You aren’t leaving me!”

The Detective flashes her badge and says in a deadly calm voice, “Try to stop her… I dare you.”

You are complete ice as you walk into the shared bedroom and pull your clothes from the closet and the dresser. Your makeup goes in another bag and you grab your jewelry knowing he would attempt to get rid of anything of value if you didn’t take it.

“Do you have everything you need?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” she turns towards your ex and locks him with a stare, “If you damage any of her things you will be charged with destruction of property. We’ll be in touch about the car by the way.”

You watch the veins in his neck pop out and his face turn red. You can’t believe this was the same man that you thought was so sweet a few months ago.

Patch was sweet enough to drop you off at your friends place, where you would be living from now on. You were lucky she had yet to replace you in the roommate department, so you could have your old place back. It would make the transition easier at least.

“Here is my card, and this is my cell number,” she says as she writes it on the back, “If you need me just give me a call okay?”

“Thank you, it really means a lot having your help tonight. I wasn’t really sure how to deal with it, nothing like this has ever happened to me before…”

“You handled it very well. Now get some rest and let me know if you need me okay? I’ll have a few friends on the force circle the block tonight okay?”

“Thanks…” you say before bidding her goodnight and shutting the door.

Your friend is in front of you with a hug and a mug of tea.

“Go get a shower and let me know if you want to talk.”

You appreciate the understanding and head towards your bathroom. It’s a couple of hours later, when you are attempting to settle in for the night that you notice a car with a man parked outside of your building. The man looks oddly familiar and it took you several moments of pondering where you had seen him.

“The police station…” you mutter eyes widening before you pull out the detective’s card and dial her number.

“Hello?”

“Detective Patch? It’s (Y/N).”

“Is everything okay?”

“Well… there is a guy that I saw at the police station tonight sitting outside of my apartment building…”

“What?”

“Yeah… you were talking to him before you came over to help me…”

“Diego…”

“Who? Is he a police officer?”

“No… but he’s a good guy to have around in a situation like this…”

“What?”

“Yeah… he wants to protect you not cause you any harm, I promise.”

“Okay…” you say with a sigh of relief.

That night you sleep surprisingly well knowing the man named Diego was there if your ex boyfriend decided to show up.

The next morning you glance out your window to see that his car is still in the same spot it was last night. You get ready and on a whim fix an extra cup of coffee and bagel with cream cheese on it with your own breakfast.

On your way out you walk up to the car and tap softly on the window. The man inside opens his eyes and winces as he looks up at you. You know his neck must be killing him after seeing the position he was sleeping in.

He squints up at you before he rolls down the window and fixes you with a stare.

“Thank you for looking out for me last night,” you say as you hand him the coffee and bagel you made for him.

“Umm… Thank you…” he says obviously confused, “You’re not… scared of me after what happened last night?”

“I was at first… but Detective Patch said that you’re good to have around in a situation like this.”

He gave you a half smile and nod before he took a sip of the coffee.

“He ever hit you?” he asks with an edge to his voice.

“No… and I refuse to give him the opportunity.”

He nods in understanding before muttering a good before he takes another sip of coffee.

“Can I ask a favor?”

“Yeah, what do you need?”

“I wouldn’t normally ask this but….would you go with me to get the rest of my things tonight? Around 5:30 or 6:00 if you can make it… He will probably work late tonight, but I don’t want to risk him being there…”

“Yeah I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you… I uhh…. I have to get to work now… I’ll see you tonight?”

“I’ll be here.”

You send him a grateful smile as you head off down the street in hopes of catching the bus.

Your day was filled with anxiety and dreadful thoughts. You were incredibly confused and heartbroken about what had happened the night before and ended up barely holding it together with multiple trips to the bathroom where you spent way too much time trying to pull yourself together.

By the time the end of the day rolls around you are mentally and emotionally drained. You don’t care about the silent tears that rolled down your face on the bus back to your apartment. All you could think about are the calls and messages you refused to take. Your head hurts from trying to rein in your emotions all day, but you knew there was more to do.

The man dressed in black was leaning against the side of your complex. You noticed the collection of knives strapped to his chest and various other places for the first time. If you didn’t trust Detective Patch, you would think that asking for his help was a huge mistake. However, he greeted you with concerned eyes and was gentle when he asked if you needed him to do anything for you. You just shook your head no and let him lead you over to his car.

“Thank you,” you said as you made an attempt to keep the tears at bay.

“Hey… Don’t worry about it… I know this is rough, but you’ll be better off without a jerk who would treat someone as amazing as you like shit.”

You give him a watery smile and wipe the tear from your eye as you look out the window. By the time you get to your old home you have built your wall back up and getting out of the car you square your shoulders. If this man wanted a fight, he would get one.

Diego follows you into the building and up to your floor. His presence behind you is so comforting and it makes you feel much safer walking into the warzone that you left behind. Your apartment is still a mess when you walk in. Pictures lay shattered on the floor, an almost poetic reminder of the happiness that is now gone. The pillows you had bought to go with the couch you picked out were ripped to shreds and many of your decorative odds and ends lay in pieces on the floor. Diego let out a low whistle when he sees the carnage left behind.

“Wait here… I’ll check the house to make sure he isn’t here to bother you.”

You nod as you bend down to pick up the head of a decorative rabbit that sat on a shelf just yesterday. You turn it over in your hand studying it, begging for anything else to focus on than what used to be your home. You don’t want to show it, but it cuts deep.

After a few minutes Diego comes back into the room flipping a knife casually in the air.

“You’re good to go, take as long as you need okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

You aren’t sure how… but Diego has a way of making you feel safe and protected all while being the most caring man you’ve ever met. And you’ve only spent about an hour with him….

You’ve been packing things up for well over an hour when you hear the front door click open. The booming voice of your ex echoes throughout the apartment and you’re hoping you can finish this visit in peace.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!”

“Wait! He’s with me!!” you exclaim in a slight panic as you rush into the room.

“What? This your new boyfriend? You’re that much of a slut that you’ve already got someone new to fuck?”

“Watch it buddy…” says Diego as he steps between the two of you.

“No you watch it! This is my apartment!”

“And I’m just trying to get my things, we will be gone soon,” you say as you lay a hand on Diego’s shoulder. You can feel the tension in his muscles lessen just slightly at your touch. The two men continue to stare one another down. Your ex nods and Diego follows you into the bedroom as you continue to pack up the rest of your things. Your ex follows as well and begins to make snide comments about every minute thing hoping to get a rise out of you. Diego continues to glare him down all while sticking to you like glue.

It’s another half hour when your ex finally goes too far.

“Dude… I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish here, but this little cunt isn’t good for anything other than a good fuck, and even then I’ve had way better.”

Diego is across the room before you can even blink.

“What did you just call her?” Diego growls as he throws him against the wall and pins him there by his neck.

Your ex laughs slightly, “So you know-”

He can’t get the next words out as Diego begins to add pressure.

“Don’t ever fucking talk to her again. Don’t look at her again. In fact, don’t ever even think of her again. Any man that would throw a woman out on the side of the highway is no man. I don’t care what she’s done in the past, I don’t care what she says. If that’s your woman you don’t treat her like a piece of trash. And you definitely don’t talk about her like that when all she is trying to do is get her things and leave.”

Diego releases him and pushes him out the door. You’re so conflicted you don’t know what to do. Grabbing what you already have packed you go to leave the room.

“Hey… don’t worry about him…”Diego says softly as he turns around and catches you in his arms. You slide your arms around him and bury your face in his chest. His arms wrap around you even more tightly.

“I just don’t know what I’ve done to be treated like this…” you get out between sobs.

“Hey… He’s nothing. Just focus on getting your things and we will leave okay?”

You look up at him and nod before you turn to quickly throw what was left of your stuff into a bag. You rush around the apartment gathering the odds and ends that you knew were yours. When you are finally finished Diego grabs almost everything and follows you out the door. Sitting on the floor of the hallway is your ex glaring up at the two of you as you leave.

“I knew you were cheating on me… this is just proof.”

“I never cheated on you… You know I don’t believe in that nonsense… Diego is a good man who agreed to help me get out of a bad situation. In the last few hours of my life he has shown me far more respect and kindness than I think you are capable of… because as far as I am concerned our entire relationship was a lie. If you had ever truly cared about me you wouldn’t have treated me like this for no damn reason.”

“Fuck you.”

“Hey,” all it takes is one word from Diego and he looks away from the two of you.

After you have finished loading everything into the car, you plop down into the passenger’s seat and Diego gets into the driver’s seat.

“You hungry? I know this great place that isn’t too far from here… I’m buying.”

“You don’t have to do that for me.”

“Hey… You’ve had a rough couple of days… let me do this for you.”

You just nod and he takes you to this adorable little Italian bistro a few blocks down the road. He listens as you tell him about your hurt and your anger. He builds you up when you try to put yourself down and most importantly he just sits there with you as you process everything that has just happened to you. When the two of finally head back to your place he helps you take everything upstairs and when you start to cry he holds you. You’ve only known this man for a few hours and yet you trust him your life.

“Thank you…” you whisper as you rest your head on his shoulder.

“Hey… it’s no problem… plus I got to spend the evening with an amazing woman.”

You give a soft smile, “There it is! I couldn’t leave tonight without seeing that beautiful smile.”

“Stop it!” you say as you look down in embarrassment.

“Hey I mean it… You deserve to smile. You deserve someone that makes you smile… you know that right?”

“Of course….” You aren’t used to being vulnerable. You’ve never felt like you could be anything other than strong and yet… Diego is definitely different.

“So… I’ve got to go… I-I I…uh…. W-wanted to ask y-you if… maybe…”

“Yes?”

“I’ve got a boxing match this Saturday… would you l-like to come?”

“I would love to…” you say softly as you look up at him with a gentle smile.

He gives you a smile in return and pulls you into a hug before he leaves. The last few days may have been some of the most difficult, but you’ve found someone who will make the future so much more than your past ever was.


End file.
